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    • Jamie Oliver’s book contained stereotypes. He was invited to participate in Vic’s truth commission.
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    Jamie Oliver’s book contained stereotypes. He was invited to participate in Vic’s truth commission.

    Pabio Posted on

    Harmful stereotypes about First Nations people contained in a children’s book by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver show the need to tell the truth, a Yoorrook commissioner says.
    “Billy and the Epic Escape” was pulled from shelves after it was revealed that neither Oliver nor his publisher hired an Indigenous person at any point during his writing.

    The story featured a young girl from the central desert region living with a foster family and contained language errors.

    Yoorrook Justice Commission vice-chair Sue-Anne Hunter encouraged Mr Oliver to engage in the process of revealing the truth.
    “Too often we see well-meaning people causing harm or offense because they don’t know the full story of our shared history in Australia,” Wurundjeri woman Ngu rai Illum Wurrung said.
    “The publication of Billy and the Epic Escape shows why telling the truth is so important: learning and understanding history from the perspective of First Peoples.
    “Yoorrook invited Jamie Oliver to participate in the Truth Commission and meet with First Peoples as part of a learning and healing process.
    Oliver and the book’s publisher, Penguin Random House UK, apologized for the incident.

    In a statement, Penguin said a request for Oliver to engage with indigenous communities had not been met due to “editorial oversight”.

    Pabio
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